[[File:Klobuchar 2012 Donors.PNG|thumb|right|375px|Above is a breakdown of funds for the 2012 election, according to source.]]

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[[File:Klobuchar 2012 Donors.PNG|thumb|right|375px|Breakdown of the source of Klobuchar's campaign funds before the 2008 election.]]

Klobuchar won the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] election in 2012. During that election cycle, Klobuchar's campaign committee raised a total of $10,203,513 and spent $8,532,377.<ref>[http://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary.php?cycle=2012&id=MNS2 ''Open Secrets'' " 2012 Election Cycle," Accessed March 2013]</ref>

Klobuchar won the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] election in 2012. During that election cycle, Klobuchar's campaign committee raised a total of $10,203,513 and spent $8,532,377.<ref>[http://www.opensecrets.org/races/summary.php?cycle=2012&id=MNS2 ''Open Secrets'' " 2012 Election Cycle," Accessed March 2013]</ref>

Amy Jean Klobuchar (b. May 25, 1960, in Plymouth, Minnesota) is a Democratic member of the U.S. Senate from the state of Minnesota. Klobuchar was first elected to the Senate in 2006 and won re-election in 2012.[1]

Prior to her election to the U.S. Senate, Klobuchar was an attorney in Hennepin county, Minnesota.[2]

Based on analysis of multiple outside rankings, Klobuchar is an average Democratic member of Congress, meaning she will vote with the Democratic Party on the majority of bills.

Biography

Klobuchar was born in 1960 in Plymouth, MN, where she also attended high school. She earned her B.A. from Yale University in 1982 and her J.D. from University of Chicago Law School in 1985. Prior to her political career, Klobuchar was a partner at the law firms of Dorsey & Whitney and Grant Plant Mooty.[2]

Issues

American response in Syria

Klobuchar released the following statement regarding the situation in Syria: “The president is right to consult with Congress and obtain approval before taking military action in Syria. The decision to allow Congress to debate will give us the ability to carefully consider the evidence and consult with military officials before making a decision. I continue to strongly believe that we should not have American troops on the ground in Syria. I also urge the president to continue to work with our international allies.”[5]

Judiciary Committee

Senator Klobuchar was first appointed to the Senate Judiciary Committee in 2009.[6] Klobuchar participated in the confirmation hearing of Sonia Sotomayor in 2009. Klobuchar was one of three new Democrats appointed to the committee in 2009. Ted Kaufman of Delaware and fellow home state Senator Al Franken were also appointed to the committee along with Klobuchar.[6]

Klobuchar is only the fourth woman in the history of the Senate Judiciary Committee to be appointed onto the powerful committee. The three other women that were first appointed to the committee were Dianne Feinstein and Carol Mosley-Braun in 1993 and Maria Cantwell in 2001.

Klobuchar serves on the Senate Judiciary Subcommittees on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights along with the Crime and Drugs Subcommittee.[7]

Democratic Wing Ding appearance

Klobuchar made an appearance at the Democratic Wing Ding, a fundraiser in Northern Iowa. She was the keynote speaker and took House Republicans to task for failing to pass the farm bill and the immigration bill. She specifically called out Iowa's 4th congressional district's Republican Representative Steve King, over his opposition to the immigration bill. Klobuchar added that she partly attended the fundraiser to support Iowa Democrat Bruce Braley, who is running for Senator Tom Harkin's seat in 2014.[8]

Specific votes

Fiscal Cliff

Klobuchar voted for the fiscal cliff compromise bill, which made permanent most of the Bush tax cuts originally passed in 2001 and 2003 while also raising tax rates on the highest income levels. The bill was passed in the Senate by a 89/8 vote on January 1, 2013.[9]

Full history

To view the full congressional electoral history for Amy Klobuchar, click [show] to expand the section.

2006

On November 7, 2006, Klobuchar won election to the United States Senate. She defeated Mark R. Kennedy (R), Robert Fitzgerald, (I), Michael James Cavlan (G), and Ben Powers (C) in the general election.[12]

U.S. Senate General Election, Minnesota, 2006

Party

Candidate

Vote %

Votes

Democratic

Amy Klobuchar

58.1%

1,278,849

Republican

Mark R. Kennedy

37.9%

835,653

Independent

Robert Fitzgerald

3.2%

71,194

Green

Michael James Calvan

0.5%

10,714

Constitution

Ben Powers

0.2%

5,408

Independent

Write-In

0%

954

Total Votes

2,202,772

Campaign donors

Comprehensive donor information for Klobuchar is available dating back to 2006. Based on available campaign finance records, Klobuchar raised a total of $10,203,513 during that time period. This information was last updated on April 24, 2013.[13]

Amy Klobuchar's Campaign Contribution History

Year

Office

Result

Contributions

2012

U.S. Senate (Minnesota)

$10,203,513

Grand Total Raised

$10,203,513

2012

Breakdown of the source of Klobuchar's campaign funds before the 2008 election.

Klobuchar won the U.S. Senate election in 2012. During that election cycle, Klobuchar's campaign committee raised a total of $10,203,513 and spent $8,532,377.[14]

Cost per vote

Klobuchar spent $4.60 per vote received in 2012.

United States Senate, 2012 - Amy Klobuchar Campaign Contributions

Total Raised

$10,203,513

Total Spent

$8,532,377

Total Raised by Election Runner-up

$953,146

Total Spent by Election Runner-up

$955,342

Top contributors to Amy Klobuchar's campaign committee

Dorsey & Whitney

$61,850

Target Corp

$56,050

US Bancorp

$51,889

General Mills

$51,650

Robins, Kaplan et al

$49,650

Top 5 industries that contributed to campaign committee

Lawyers/Law Firms

$1,044,812

Retired

$504,878

Leadership PACs

$319,150

Lobbyists

$298,430

Securities & Investment

$286,533

2006

Klobucar won election to the U.S. Senate in 2006. During that election cycle, Klobuchar's campaign committee raised a total of $9,202,052 and spent $9,095,671.[15]

Analysis

Like-minded colleagues

The website OpenCongress tracks the voting records of each member to determine with whom he or she votes most and least often. The results include a member from each party.[16]

Lifetime voting record

According to the website GovTrack, Klobuchar missed 15 of 1,935 roll call votes from Jan 2007 to Apr 2013, which is 0.8% of votes during that period. This is better than the median of 1.7% among the lifetime records of senators currently serving.[18]

Congressional staff salaries

The website Legistorm compiles staff salary information for members of Congress. Klobuchar paid his congressional staff a total of $2,404,347 in 2011. He ranked 7th on the list of the lowest paid Democratic senatorial staff salaries and ranked 30th overall of the lowest paid senatorial staff salaries in 2011. Overall, Minnesota ranked 46th in average salary for senatorial staff. The average U.S. Senate congressional staff was paid $2,529,141.70 in fiscal year 2011.[19]

Net worth

2011

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Klobuchar's net worth as of 2011 was estimated between $310,029 and $1,052,000. That averages to $681,014, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic senators in 2011 of $20,795,450. Her average net worth decreased by 6% from 2010.[20]

2010

Based on congressional financial disclosure forms and calculations made available by OpenSecrets.org, Klobuchar's net worth as of 2010 was estimated between $345,029 and $1,104,000. That averages to $724,514.50, which is lower than the average net worth of Democratic senators in 2010 of $19,383,524.[21]

National Journal vote ratings

Each year, National Journal publishes an analysis of how liberally or conservatively each member of Congress voted, as compared to other members, in the previous year. More information about the analysis process can be found on the vote ratings page.

2012

According to the data released in 2013, Klobuchar was ranked the 34th most liberal senator during 2012.[22]

2011

According to the data released in 2012, Amy Klobuchar was ranked the 34th most liberal senator during 2011.[23]

Percentage voting with party

2013

Amy Klobuchar voted with the Democratic Party 95.5% of the time, which ranked 24th among the 52 Senate Democratic members as of June 2013.[24]

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term Amy + Klobuchar + Minnesota + Senate

All stories may not be relevant to this page due to the nature of the search engine.

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Personal

Klobuchar is married to John Bessler, with whom she has a daugher, Abigail.[25]